2 Timothy 1:7

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

This is the message received when I was encountering a crisis of confidence. I did not have to search for it, it was the verse of the day. 

Was that a coincidence or God speaking to editors at biblegateway to leave me a message for that day?

It has happened so many times over the years that any element of doubt or coincidence has been removed and has been placed in the file drawer labeled faith.

I cannot say that God  loves me any more than anyone else or that I am special. I want to believe He loves us all equally. 

How I feel about my Lord and His faithfulness goes beyond any issue of faith, it is personal.

We study, we believe, we find our gifts, our calling and encourage one another to do the right thing. We have fellowship with one another but that isn’t the same as our personal relationship with Christ because we are human, at least for the near future.

Why did I have that moment of crisis of confidence? I felt like I lost touch for a second with my Lord. That is all it takes, just a split second of emptiness and loneliness and I began to doubt myself, not my Lord myself.

And then the verse of the day comes and restores my soul.

Psalm 23:3

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

He didn’t even have to recite the most quoted Psalm to remind me.

Proverbs 14:22

Do they not go astray who devise evil? Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.

Those who devise evil are on a different path than those who are in Christ.

Being in “The Way” the path of right actions does not walk this path focused on the acts but rather the appointed meetings with Christ who is loving and faithful.

The motivation to keep walking cannot be about the work but rather the love and faithfulness of Christ whocalled us.

I often think about how Jesus would call His disciples with a simple plea, “Follow me.” They did not know Him as we know Him, crucified, and yet they dropped whatever they were doing to follow this stranger. In doing that they got to know Him in a way we never will.

On Pentecost the work of building the church began. There was a total focus on the work because in the beginning of any large scale endeavor there is a sense of urgency to lay a solid foundation for all that will come later.

Saul’s conversion to Paul set in motion the articles of incorporation for how the church would function and left us a blueprint to follow which has lasted for thousands of years.

Now as some see these are “the last days” there are two schools of thought. One is resting on the foundation already set for us and the other is in finishing the work of the church age.

Do any of us feel that same sense of urgency as it was on the day of Pentecost? 

Those who have devised evil have set the world on fire. Some of us feel the urgency to save as many as possible before the end of the church age. We can try to put out fires or we can try to save people.

Be careful to stay on the path. How close we are to the end does not change the path.